


Charlie

by faerie_lights



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker Secret Santa 2018, Christmas Shopping, Drunk Creepers, Gen, Not in a kinky way, Road Trips, magical auto repair, revenge belorusian, shoe appreciation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerie_lights/pseuds/faerie_lights
Summary: What do you buy a witch for Christmas?





	Charlie

**Author's Note:**

> Part of [Bunker Secret Santa 2018](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124194)

Charlie hung up the phone and sat looking at on her lap for several minutes. Secret Santa. Only Jack would think up something like this. Former all powerful being or not, he really was just a sweet kid at heart and it made it impossible to say no to him. Especially since, apparently he died recently? Charlie wasn’t entirely sure she’d understood that story But he’d somehow puppy eyed her over the phone and now she was roped into this Secret Santa thing. She smiled in spite of herself, thinking of Jack and his perpetually hopeful face. It was hard, trying not to get attached to these people. After losing Kara, she’d closed off her heart. It just hurt so much. Even thinking of her hurt, all those sweet memories of her, singing while she baked, dancing around the kitchen, flour dusting her freckled nose. Charlie had put those memories away, buried them deep so they couldn’t spring up and hurt her. She shook herself, trying to clear her head and set the phone down on the piece of paper where she’d written down the details of Jack’s Christmas plan. A name stood out, written in dark, bold letters, underlined twice. Rowena. Another one she’d tried not to get attached to. And now Charlie was her Secret Santa? Damn, she thought, what on earth do you buy a 300 year old witch for Christmas? 

 

The Bunker

“Loud isn’t it?” The Scottish brogue slid under the din filling the bunker. Charlie looked around for the source. Sitting in a chair with a smirk on her face was an elegant, red haired woman. She held out a cut glass tumbler.  
“Me?” Charlie asked. “I mean are you talking to me?” The red haired woman’s smirk deepened.  
“I am.” She waggled the glass. Charlie took it from her hand peering somewhat suspiciously at the amber liquid filling it. She sniffed it surreptitiously.  
“Whiskey, of course,” said the red haired woman in answer to Charlie’s unasked question. “Or scotch, if you will.” Charlie took a sip.  
“It’s good.”  
“Of course it is. I’m Scottish.” The woman winked at Charlie over the rim of her own glass.  
“Got a name, Scottish?” She wasn’t kidding about the whiskey. It was fiery and warm all the way down to her belly and Charlie couldn’t remember the last time she could actually relax and enjoy a drink. Of late, all drinks had been swigged quickly from a flask on the battlefield or during strategy sessions. It felt odd to stand there, in a warm, bright room drinking good scotch from a cut glass tumbler.  
“Rowena,” the woman answered, her brogue seeming even thicker for a moment. “Rowena MacLeod.”  
“I’m Charlie Bradbury,” Charlie offered in return.  
“Oh I know who you are, dear.” Rowena peered searchingly at her face. “I knew her. The other you.” Something cold wormed its way into Charlie’s chest through the heat of the liquor. This is going to be a recurring theme, she thought. Explaining to these people that she isn’t their dead friend. All at once she was exhausted. Rowena’s face took on a calculating look as she watched Charlie plunk herself down in a chair.  
“Tired?” She asked. Charlie nodded. “Let’s find you a room.” She offered a hand and Charlie allowed herself to be pulled from the chair and led down a hallway filled with doors. Rowena muttered to herself as they passed rooms.  
“Well that one’s Sam’s and there’s Dean’s. I think this is the one they set up for Castiel. Wouldn’t do to have him to far from Dean, now would it? And Mary over here. Oh! I think this one’s free.” She pushed open a door to dim room. Charlie quickly took stock. It was spartan. A chair and desk against the wall. No windows, of course. No decor of any kind. But mercifully a bed. She flopped face first onto it, ignoring the dust. She was used to sleeping rough. She had been for some time now and the musty bed was the height of comfort comparatively.  
“Do you want to shake it out or anything, dear?” Rowena’s lilting voice faded quickly as Charlie slipped into sleep.  
“Mmpfh,” she mumbled.  
“Sleep well, Charlie,” she heard Rowena whisper as sleep finally claimed her. 

The next few days were difficult. The new world was... jarring. It wasn’t so bad when she was in the bunker but when they went out, to the town, Charlie almost couldn’t breathe from the startling mix of familiarity and strangeness. As the days became weeks, she started to become restless. Living a normal life felt wrong. The people going about their daily business felt wrong. It felt wrong to get up and take a shower and get dressed and have nothing to do but catch up on pop culture. Slowly she began to go stir crazy in the bunker. And that’s when Rowena reappeared. Charlie was just finishing the most recent Star Wars movie when there was a sharp rap on her door. Still pondering the implications of Luke Skywalkers’ disappearance, she opened the door expecting to see Dean or Sam but there in her resplendent glory was Rowena.  
“Hello, dear,” she trilled. “I had a thought that you might be getting a trifle bored here in the underground black hole of no fun so I came to see if you’d like a bit of adventure.” A slow smile spread across Charlie’s face as she thought about what “adventure” might mean to this gale wind force of a woman.  
“What kind of an adventure?”  
“Well a road trip, I suppose. There’s a grimoire I’ve heard about and I believe I’ve tracked down the shaman who possesses it. He’s in Arizona. Fancy a trip through the American Southwest, dear?”  
“They told me you’re a witch. Like a crazy powerful witch. Can’t you just zap yourself there and back?”  
“Perhaps, I could. But wouldn’t this be more fun?” Charlie shrugged and Rowena narrowed her eyes. “Pack a bag, dear. I’ll meet you in the car.”

 

Present Day 

The mall was noisy and crowded and Charlie regretted her decision to go there almost immediately. In no more than five minutes, no less than three people crashed into her as they rushed from store to store shopping frantically. She sighed and brushed her hands through her hair, setting her jaw and steeling herself to just find something already. But this place was crazy. Was she really going to find a gift for Rowena at a freaking Things Remembered? Another frazzled shopper bumped into her, knocking her back against the wall. Sighing, she ducked into the nearest store to avoid any more collisions. Inside it was quiet and peaceful. Long tables displayed jewelry and trinkets on purple velvet cloths. Charlie ran her fingers over them, smiling when she came to a tray filled with silver and turquoise. She and Rowena had certainly seen a good amount of that on their trip. She picked up a bracelet studded with the stuff and closed her eyes, remembering.

Guymon, Oklahoma

They made it to Oklahoma before Charlie got to see Rowena use her magic. They were driving through Guymon, a town that Charlie’s brain insisted on pronouncing with a Jamaican accent. Five minutes into Guymon and the car began making an extremely worrying squealing noise.  
“What is it, do you think?” Charlie asked, lifting the hood and peering underneath. She knew literally nothing about cars but she leaned over the engine hoping whatever was wrong would just be obvious. It was not. She turned to look at Rowena who was holding up a finger with her phone pressed to her ear.  
“A belt? And where would that be on this engine thing?” She nodded, listening. “Okay, Dean. Thank you. No we can handle it. No we are not coming back because of some engine nonsense.Mmmhmm. Goodbye Dean.” She moved to stand next to Charlie, rolling her eyes theatrically.  
“What did he say? Did he know what’s wrong?”  
“A belt is probably loose or fraying, he says. He wanted us to come back. How ridiculous. Can you imagine?” Rowena continued to mutter to herself as she raised her hands over the engine. Purple light began to gather around her fingertips, slowly moving down to engulf her hands completely. Charlie watched, enraptured as Rowena placed her glowing hands on the engine and spoke a sharp command. The light shot through the engine, winding itself around the wires and gears and then quickly returned to Rowena’s hands and disappeared.  
“There we are. Good as new.” Rowena indicated to Charlie that she should close the hood. Still staring at the woman nonchalantly examining her nails next to her, Charlie lifted the hood off of the pole propping up and let it drop. They got back into the car and Charlie started the engine. There wasn’t even a trace of the former squealing.  
“That was awesome,” she said. “You must save a fortune in auto repair.” Rowena laughed.  
“You don’t know the half of it,” she said with a wink.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

They stopped for the night in Albuquerque. Charlie pointed out a motel that looked fairly cheap and Rowena pealed with laughter.  
“Not on your life, dear,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Head downtown. That’s where the nice hotels are.”  
And that’s how Charlie found herself standing in the lobby of the Hotel Chaco, the fanciest hotel she had ever set foot in. Bewildered she watched Rowena sweet talk the concierge until she turned around with both an electronic key card and a brilliant smile. Ten minutes later, Charlie was sitting on the fluffiest bed,in the nicest room she’d ever seen watching Rowena unpack what seemed like two hundred pairs of shoes.  
“Shoes are important, Charlie dear. One can never have too many shoes.” Charlie reached out and touched the closest pair.. A bolt of sadness shot through her.  
“Kara loved shoes,” she said with a rueful smile. “She would’ve flipped to see your collection.”  
“Kara?” Rowena tilted her head. She looked like an inquisitive bird.  
“She was my girlfriend. Before. She...she died.” The sadness clutched her around the throat. “There was fighting. After the angels started their war. There was a fire…” Charlie looked at Rowena helplessly, unable to continue. The older woman laid her hand on the younger woman’s arm. And for a moment they sat in silence, remembering those they’d loved and those they’d lost.

 

Phoenix, Arizona

“Double red heads, double my luck,” the man leaning on the table in front of them reeked of alcohol. Charlie and Rowena glared at him as he crept closer to them, leering.  
“Very uninterested, sir.” Charlie’s voice practically had icicles hanging from it but the man was too drunk to notice.  
“What are you two pretty ladies doing eating all by yourselves? It’s a travesdy… a tradjesty… its a crime is what it is,” he slurred, attempting to pull out one of the empty chairs. Charlie hooked her foot around it firmly.  
“Dude, get lost,” she snapped. “We literally couldn’t be less interested.” The man narrowed his eyes at her. She glared back at him.  
“So you’re the mean one huh?” He turned to Rowena, knocking over a water glass in the process. “Are you nicer than your friend?” Rowena put her finger on the table and the water that had been flowing toward her lap came to an abrupt stop.  
“I am most certainly not and since my friend has asked you to kindly bugger off and you have not listened…” She spoke a few words in a language Charlie didn’t recognize and gestured toward the drunk.  
“Што вы сказалі?” the man said. Both he and Charlie started, surprised by the unfamiliar syllables. Rowena snickered. “Што я магу сказаць?”  
“What did you do?” Charlie whispered to Rowena as the man began shouting in a panic. Rowena’s smile was just bit smug.  
“He only speaks Belarusian now.” Charlie laughed as waiters gathered around the man hustling him off as he yelled and flailed. Rowena held up her drink and Charlie clinked her glass against it.  
“Што са мной адбываецца?” screamed the man as he was forcibly ejected from the restaurant. Charlie and Rowena watched wearing identical smirks. 

Yuma, Arizona

“I’ll have the filet mignon, dear.” Rowena patted the waiter on the arm and favored him with a brilliant smile. He looked at Charlie expectantly. She shrugged.  
“Same, I guess.” The waiter hurried off to the kitchen, leaving the women alone at the table. Charlie watched Rowena look around the restaurant approvingly and not for the first time wondered why she had been invited on this trip.  
“Ask it.” Rowena’s soft Scottish voice startled Charlie out of her thoughts.  
“Huh?” she fumbled inelegantly.  
“Ask your question, Charlie. You been wanting to ask me since I proposed this little road trip. Ask me.” Charlie cocked her head to the side and peered curiously at the witch.  
“Ok,” she said. “Why? Why did you invite me on this trip. Why me?” Rowena’s smile settled into something softer, something sadder.  
“I knew her, you know. Your counterpart in this universe. I knew her.” Charlie bristled immediately as she did whenever someone brought up her dead doppelgänger. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, dear. I more than knew her. I was one of the last people to see her alive. In fact, I carry a good deal of guilt about what happened to that girl.” Charlie huffed in annoyance.  
“I’m not her,” she snapped. “I’m sick of explaining that.” Rowena favored Charlie with a long, knowing look that unsettled her.  
“I know you aren’t her. And I know you must resent being treated like you’re a replacement for her.” Rowena’s face was full of sympathy and Charlie choked down a sob.  
“I resent her.” she whispered, fisting her hands against the white tablecloth. “I resent that she got to live this great life, with these great friends and I got a dead girlfriend and a broken world.” She started to push away from the table but Rowena’s hand shot out and grasped her arm, pinning her in place.  
“You can have that now, Charlie. You can let us be your friends. Let us care about you.” Charlie shook her head.  
“I’m not like her,” she said, sadly “I’ve seen too much. I’ve done too much.”  
“Oh my dear, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve done if I told them to you under a truth spell. And those boys care about me, for some reason. It’s a motley crew, dear. Not one of us has completely clean hands.” Charlie continued to shake her head and Rowena released her with a sigh. “Think on it, dear. That’s all I ask.” Charlie folded her arms and looked away.  
“I went to find her, you know,” she said, biting the corner of her lip. “I thought maybe… a second chance, you know.” Rowena nodded, encouraging her to continue.  
“She looked the same. A little older, but the same. She has a shop here too. A bakery. She still makes cupcakes. I’ll bet she still smells like peaches.”  
“You didn’t speak to her?”  
“No. It wasn’t my her. It was a her that doesn’t know me. Like I’m a Charlie that doesn’t know Sam and Dean. Or you.”  
“I see.” Rowena’s voice was sad.  
“I think I want to go,” Charlie said.  
“Go where?”  
“I don’t know,” Charlie admitted. “I just need to be on my own for a while, I think.” Rowena nodded briskly.  
“If that’s what you want, dear.” She signaled for the check, signing it with a flourish when the waiter brought it over.  
The drive to Kansas was quiet and it wasn’t until they were almost all the way back that Charlie realized Rowena had never found her grimiore. 

 

Present Day

Charlie set the silver bracelet back into the tray with a wry smile. She felt like thanking it for the insight. Shaking her head, she headed out of the mall and back to car. What had she been thinking, shopping for Rowena at a mall? No, Rowena’s perfect gift had been in front of her the whole time. It would take some research, of course but Charlie’s hacking skills were really starting to come back to her after years of disuse and the technology in this world wasn’t so advanced that she couldn’t figure it out.  
It took her two full days to find what she was looking for. She almost gave up a couple of times and at one point, feeling discouraged, she ordered a a pair of sparkly Jimmy Choo high heels back up gift and had them rush shipped to her PO Box. But finally, finally she found what she was looking for. She laughed to herself as she wrote in the card she had picked out. Who would’ve thought a shaman’s address would be as mundane as 245 Borna Rd Gadsden, Arizona 85336? She slid the card into the envelope, licked the flap and sealed it. Sticking it carefully on top of the messily wrapped shoebox (hey she bought ‘em, she might as well give ‘em to her) she started to write Rowena on the front, but stopped before her pen touched the paper. A smile broke across her face as she bent her head down to scribble across the envelope: Fancy an adventure?


End file.
